💌 Tiny Improvements
Build with a purposeA newsletter for product builders, startup founders, and indiehackers, who design with intention, and my thoughts on living a life you love in a busy world.
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💌 Read the latest dispatch
The Decoy Effect: More options for an easier choice
11-07-2023
The Decoy Effect is a cognitive bias that causes people to have a strong preference between two options, when presented with a third option that is inferior to one of the original options.
Read past disptaches
There's no right way to do it
10-31-2023
Building products comes with a sisyphean paradox: The blessing is that there are so many ways to do it. The curse is that there are so many ways to do it.
Chase your interests to build something useful
10-17-2023
Explore the power of hyperfixation on the internet, from tech enthusiasts diving deep into topics to engineers creating innovative solutions. Discover how curiosity can lead to expertise and groundbreaking tools.
Your resume sucks. Here's how to fix it.
10-04-2023
A guide to writing a resume that doesn't suck, from a hiring manager's perspective.
Do this with Your Product Waitlist: A Guide for Indiehackers and Startup Founders
09-18-2023
Learn strategies to leverage your product waitlist for sustainable growth. Ideal for indiehackers and startup founders, this guide offers actionable tips to convert initial interest into paying customers.
Breaking the cycle: Data-driven product descisions
09-04-2023
Learn how to escape common product development pitfalls using data-driven decisions. Read how Craftwork used analytics to optimize their user experience.
Reverse DevRel: The core engineering skill you've been missing
08-29-2023
DevRel is a core engineering skill that is often overlooked. By turning the DevRel model on its head, we can use it to build better products and better teammates.
Continuous self improvement and the morning ritual
08-15-2023
Reflecting on my morning ritual, journaling for clarity, and podcasts for your morning walk
My startup got into Y Combinator
08-01-2023
Well, our startup did - Craftwork is a tech-connected home painting company that is making it easier for homeowners to get their homes painted.
Two truths and a lie: what Meta got right with the Threads launch
07-11-2023
Meta's new app, Threads, is a Twitter clone that launched last week. It's not perfect, but it's a great example of a product launch that went extremely well.
Maximize user retention: the cognitive science approach...
07-04-2023
Understand how multitasking affects your customers' memory, and improve your product design and engagement with cognitive psychology and the Zeigarnik effect.
Takeaways from VidCon's creator track
06-27-2023
Last week, I went to VidCon in Anaheim, California. It was my first time as a creator at the event. Here are my three takeaways from the conference.
Intellectual humility: how to be wrong productively
06-13-2023
How to use being wrong to improve UX and product design. Learn how to embrace mistakes and create better products for your users.
Cognitive load, UX, and why you should care
06-06-2023
Cognitive load is a concept that is important to understand that is often overlooked, and has a huge impact on both UX and the lived experience of building your product.
Reddit as a tool for learning
05-23-2023
If you haven't been using reddit as a tool for learning, you are truly missing out. It's time to give it a try.
Your portfolio is a timeline of your growth
05-16-2023
At some point in your life, you will look back on the work you did when you were just getting started with a new skill, and see everything you did wrong. Let's talk about how to channel that feeling for good
We hurled a people into space by building a pool: the case for simplification
05-09-2023
Everyone has their moonshot: something that seems impossibly difficult. We can learn a lot from the people who have landed their own moonshots.
Tiny Improvements for big changes
04-25-2023
Discover how tiny habits like journaling, language learning, & writing helped me stay grounded during the pandemic & achieve personal growth.
You are far more influential than you think
04-18-2023
You're already marketing yourself every moment. You just need to be aware of it and do it intentionally.
The first 90 days as a technical cofounder - building a startup in 2023
04-06-2023
I'm building a new company for the first time since 2016. A lot has changed since then. Here's what feels different this time around.
Wabi-Sabi - embracing imperfection for tech teams
03-28-2023
The products we build are naturally imperfect. We can learn from the flaws and imperfections in our code to create better, more resilient products while nurturing team and personal growth.
An idiot's guide to using ChatGPT to make yourself smarter
03-21-2023
ChatGPT is amazing, and quickly finding its way into mainstream use - regardless of how tech-savvy the end user is. This is how I use ChatGPT to learn.
Why Liquid Death's branding is murderously effective
03-07-2023
Discover the science behind naming and branding, and how the Bouba/Kiki effect can help you create a brand identity that resonates with your audience.
The productivity tool I use every day to multiply my output
02-28-2023
I've been using networked note taking to organize my thoughts and ideas for years. Here's how it's helped me become more productive and efficient.
The math behind why cafes should have round tables
02-21-2023
Though we don't often think of it this way, the objects and buildings around us are the result of a series of design decisions.
The finicky nature of color in product design
02-14-2023
Choosing colors for your product can be a difficult task. There are cultural, historical, contextual, and even physiological factors that can influence how we perceive color.
Perception and unexpected tricks of the mind
01-31-2023
Explore the fascinating world of perception and cognition in the Tiny Improvements newsletter. Uncover the unexpected tricks of our minds and learn how to make tiny improvements in our cognitive abilities.
Learn from me: a Dunning-Kruger expert
01-24-2023
Drawing on the Dunning-Kruger Effect to propel tech progress is like using a slingshot to travel into space: Leaving our comfort zone to learn from experts gives us the momentum to break through boundaries and break records.
These are the books that shaped my career
01-17-2023
A sampling of books that have had a fundamental impact on my career as a designer, developer and startup founder.
Tools for building a new company
01-10-2023
I spent the last week spinning up a new company for the first time since 2017. Here are the tools I used.
The case for continued learning, and getting side projects out the door
01-03-2023
The end of 2022 brought about a ton of change for me, and a major shift in my career. I'm excited to talk a little about what's next, and to show off a side project I'm readying for release soon.
Building your brand in the developer community
12-13-2022
Learn how to build a personal brand as a developer or product builder to differentiate yourself in the tech industry and gain recognition for your work. Authenticity and consistency are key to attracting the right people and opportunities. Follow these steps to get started.
Customer experience, quality, and the hype cycle
12-06-2022
The Gartner Hype Cycle, and its relationship with customer experience for new products and companies.
Put a fork in it - how to know when your work is ready to publish
11-22-2022
Deciding when your work is "done" can be a crippling decision for creators. Let's talk about that.
Get started: The trick to publishing online
11-15-2022
The biggest benefit about telling people online about what you're learning is the network effect.
What it's like to get laid off and go viral on the same day
11-10-2022
Last week may have been the most complicated week of my life. I got laid off from Stripe, and went viral on Twitter. Here's what happened.
What I learned from using AI in my work
10-25-2022
Machine learning and AI tools have been making waves in the news lately. Let's take a look at some that you might want to consider using
Tips for managing burnout and stress
10-18-2022
We all experience stress and burnout at some point in our lives. Here are the tools I've found to stay ahead of burnout in my job and my relationships.
5 Design rules everyone should know
10-11-2022
For most of my life, I would not have described myself as a creative person. As it works out, nobody is inherently creative. It's all about following rules.
Remember these apps?
10-04-2022
This Dispatch of Tiny Improvements dives into some of †he apps we've forgotten, no code tools, and time off.
The way we talk about our things
09-20-2022
This we we talk about intentional use of language and how it can affect subconscious behavior.
What I've learned from working in public
09-12-2022
I'm a big fan of working in public. It's a great way to get feedback and improve your work... you just have to be ready to deal with The Internet™️
Balance for remote workers
09-06-2022
Show up better on video calls, make your writing better by writing more, friction logging, and conferences are back!
Has it been four years already?
01-19-2021
MLK, presidential inauguration, time illusions, new features in Gatsby, and designing for musicians.
Sip your coffee quietly, act kindly
01-12-2021
Watching history happen before our eyes, the economic study of bitcoin, accessibility, and drinking coffee in a quiet room.
The Enthusiast's Hidden Superpower
01-03-2021
Optimism and the new year, why being an enthusiast can help you build a better product, espresso drinking and daily writing.
On seasonal change, open source, and carbon offsets
12-08-2020
Cognitive science and the framing effect, Open Source software and Working in Public, language learning, creating online courses, and reforestation.
I swear I wrote that down somewhere 🤦♂️
05-11-2020
Training your brain with networked note-taking, privacy-first analytics for websites, expensive asparagus, speed reading and retention.
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Get in touch to → Sponsor Tiny Improvements